The Histadrut labor federation filed a court motion on Monday to prevent Hadera
Paper from laying off 250 employees, and filed an injunction to prevent the
closure of one of its factories.

Hadera Paper CEO Ofer Bloch met with the
Histadrut leadership later in the day to try to work out a deal, after prior
negotiations over the fate of the workers fell through. The meeting led both
sides to request a one-day postponement to a planned Haifa Labor Court hearing
on the matter to allow for further talks.

The company management halted
operations at the plant last Friday following a Histadrut-led labor strike, in
which workers demanded to keep their 4.5% automatic pay hikes and
bonuses.

Bloch claimed a drop in demand for paper has hurt the company’s
revenues, forcing it to make cuts, though he said his preferred course of action
is to cut salaries and eliminate the automatic pay raises instead of firing
workers.

The publicly traded firm, which is owned by Clal Industries,
reported a third-quarter loss of NIS 61.2 million after significant losses in the
first and second quarters of the year. Management sources said the average
salary of the striking employees was NIS 25,000 per month, and the situation was
intolerable.

The workers are demanding Bloch end the shutdown and restore
their bonuses.

Adi Hananov, chairman of the Hadera Paper workers
committee, urged the CEO to reconsider the dismissal of
workers.

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